Agencies
Aim to Make Ads Relevant if War Breaks Out
By
Suzanne Vranica,
The
Wall Street Journal
March 18,
2003
Madison Avenue
and major marketing concerns are measuring consumer attitudes and
rethinking campaigns to ensure their advertising will be relevant if war
breaks out.
Diamond Trading,
the marketing arm of DeBeers Group, has already pulled a Mother's Day ad
headlined "The Mother of All Mother's Day Gifts." The company
withdrew the ad from a coming campaign because Iraq's Saddam Hussein is
associated with the phrase "the mother of all battles." Instead,
the company will run an ad that reads: "Somewhere she went from the
girl of your dreams to the love of your life."
The decision was
prompted by an online poll of 500 consumers conducted in February by WPP
Group's J. Walter Thompson that showed the possibility of war, coupled
with rising unemployment, is ratcheting up anxiety levels. As a result,
consumers are less likely to buy new automobiles, pricey jewelry and
appliances. With such findings in hand, marketers are moving fast to
tailor their promotions to stay in sync with their customers.
As war looms,
advertisers are caught in a bind between their desire to sell and their
fear of offending customers. It's a terrain without sign posts.
Some
marketers, for example, instinctively worry that humor will be
misunderstood. Others think consumers will welcome it. What is certain is
that most of the country's biggest marketers will be scrutinizing their
public messages in the days ahead.
Diamond Trading,
for example, is bringing back its "Hands" commercial -- a
television spot that was created following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks. The ad shows a young couple admiring the love between an elderly
couple walking through a park. "It's a message people can find
reassuring and comforting during these times," says Richard Lennox,
director of the Diamond Trading account at J. Walter Thompson.
Consumer-products
company Unilever
is expected to run a print ad for its Ragu Rich & Meaty sauce that
includes a recipe for lasagna. The ad was produced as a result of one of
the survey findings, which showed fearful consumers are likely to make
more meals at home instead of eating out. About 16% of those sampled say
they would likely spend less time at theaters, bars and restaurants. In
addition, 10% said they would be making fewer fast-food purchases. The
margin of error was plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. Unilever declined
to comment.
Following the
September 2001 terrorist strikes, marketers revised campaigns and
strategies that could have offended some consumers. Many were particularly
leery about airing humorous commercials.
Such worries run
counter to the J. Walter Thompson online poll, which found that 67% of the
respondents said they would appreciate a dose of humor in commercials in
the event of war. The findings prompted the agency to develop a new
humorous radio campaign for McLeodUSA, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
telecommunications company, that is expected to air in four test markets
next month.
In one radio ad,
a customer complains to a McLeod customer-service representative that her
bill is too easy to read. "Where were the hidden charges, what were
the latest changes in fine print, whose bill had I actually been sent by
mistake?" she asks. To placate her, the customer rep eventually
offers to include a crossword puzzle with the next bill.
Others echo
those sentiments. "Humor in ads makes people feel normal," says
Linda Kaplan Thaler, chief executive of Publicis Groupe's Kaplan Thaler
Group. She notes that following 9/11, her agency received "thank
you" e-mails from consumers happy to see the Aflac duck commercials
back on the air. Aflac, the Columbus, Ga., insurance company, had taken
its well-known duck ads off the air for several weeks following the
attacks.
Another
byproduct of a potential war with Iraq may be the return of patriotic
imagery to advertising. "You are going to see some patriotic messages
to troops," says Mel Berning, president of U.S. broadcasting at
MediaVest, a media-buying firm owned by Publicis.
Mr. Berning's firm has just completed a telephone poll of 1,000 Americans,
in which 56% said they feel very positive about companies that run
patriotic messages for troops during war coverage. The margin of error was
plus or minus three percentage points.
Write to
Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com
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